I
consider myself a purist when it comes to racing. I don’t consider myself
an expert, but a purist. I like racing how it used to be before it…Umm… let’s just say before it “changed.”
People ask me if I don’t like it, why I still watch it. Well last weekend
with the Chase Elliott and Denny Hamlin ordeal, is why.

To
watch a young man who grew up around the sport much like I did, but on a
different level; last weekend I watched true honor, sportsmanship, and the
heart of a true racer in action.

With
so much garbage out there in Cup today, with everything based on the all mighty
dollar, it made me smile, what I watched last week. Let’s look back and I will
tell you what I saw, from my view.

We
have a young man, Chase Elliott, son of NASCAR Champion and Hall of Famer, Bill
Elliott. Yes this young man has been in the best equipment that money could buy
since day one, and as a parent, I admit that if I had the money and my son wanted
to race, I would do exactly the same thing. The main difference here is this;
Bill took his son up the ladder one step at a time; he did not shove him
straight into Cup. No, he started in Karts, then the Bandoleros, then the
Legends. He made Chase learn, and taught him that you only get to the top with
hard work and passion, something lacking in racing today. Step by step he
worked his way up the ladder, paying his dues and learning the hard way.

This
past year has been a learning year and his talent and skill have shined,
putting him in places where it’s been seen. And yes his dad had a hand in it,
but if you look back, you haven’t seen Bill Elliott out in the limelight
talking about how good his son is, or pushing his son. No, you have seen him
standing in the wings, waiting, and watching, and guiding his son up the
ladder, taking the same path that Bill took to the title back in 1988.

Bill
Elliott was just a country boy from north Georgia who loved racing and worked
his way up the ladder, one step at a time, at first on a shoe string budget
with little money but lots of heart. His efforts were seen by Harry Melling,
and in 1981 Harry Melling bought out George Elliott’s race team, putting
Melling Racing on the map with Bill Elliott at the wheel. It was a huge break
for the young Georgia driver, as it was the start to a racing career that led
him to the NASCAR Hall of fame.

Now
fast forward to today. We see a young man who has worked his way up, racing
since the age of 5 and winning in every class or division he entered, guided by
the hand of a man who knew the value of hard work, and knew that to win, you
must first lose. And here we have Chase…

All
the work Bill has put into his son’s career was shining last weekend on the
back straight at Martinsville, and on pit road in front of the camera. It can
be summed up in one word… CLASS. Just mere laps from his first win, he is
dumped by a driver who don’t know the meaning of hard work. Everything has been
handed to Denny Hamlin in his career, and the way he was guided and taught to
race showed in his actions and his comments last weekend. Using 3 different
excuses as to why he dumped Chase shows he knew he was wrong, and he was
grasping at straws to give a reason for his actions. But meanwhile Chase, who
clearly was upset and knowing he got shafted, kept his calm and explained his side
on the back straight. He didn’t jump out wanting to fight and act like an ass. No,
he showed class in his actions. And when the camera was in his face he showed
even more class with his comment, “I have been taught if you can’t say anything
nice, don’t say anything…”

His
day will come. The wins are not far off. His talent and ability to drive a race
car are shining brightly, and he will prove that hard work and passion still exist
in the world of racing today. That’s giving me hope that real true racing can
still be seen and it won’t be long until we see that famous Elliott smile in
victory lane. Let’s see, Texas has been
good to Chase, even when they make him start in the rear… but that is a topic
for another story….

(To those of you who
have liked my ramblings and the opinions I have written, I want to say I am
sorry for the delay; I fell victim to a hard drive crash and lost countless
stories and stuff I have been working on, BUT fear not; the stories will come.
They are still stored in MY hard drive in my hard head! I am back on track now
and will be sharing some of these in the very near future! Thank you for
reading…”the dr.”)

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Race Fans Forever are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of Race Fans Forever. Race Fans Forever is not affiliated with NASCAR or any other motorsports sanctioning body in any form..